


Nothing to Worry About

by glittercyborgprincess



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M, Gen, Townhouse Incident, i have no idea what this is, more experimental prose style, once again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-21 05:39:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13734309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glittercyborgprincess/pseuds/glittercyborgprincess
Summary: Rafael Barba had nothing to worry about at the beginning of this day. Then he did when the team finds out that Liv is MIA.Barba (third person) interiority during S17 "Townhouse Incident"





	Nothing to Worry About

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know why I thought that watching this episode was a good idea but I did so here we go anyway.

He didn’t think much when Liv didn’t show up at the DNA conference. After all, work comes first and in the grand scope of things, she probably knows everything that this entire conference has to say about the DNA backlog. In fact, when he got the call from Carisi telling him that they had booked the case, he was relieved. Not only was he able to get out of the boring panel he was sitting in on but he knew that he would be able to join Liv back at the precinct. 

 

But when he made it to the precinct, she was nowhere in sight. Again, nothing to worry about. She probably had a bunch of stuff to do and it seemed that Dodds had this collar under control. No fuss, no muss. 

 

Rafael Barba  _ did _ become nervous, however, when he asked where Liv was and the detectives instinctively told him she was stuck at the DNA conference. His brows wrinkled together and he shook his head. She wasn’t at the precinct and she wasn’t at the conference. Then where was she? 

 

He knew better than to panic. Bad things happen when you panic. Instead, he let himself be led into the bullpen while the team tried to piece together Liv’s location. His phone was in his jacket, volume up, even though he knew that if she was under duress, she was unlikely to even think of him. She had more important people to contact....like her boss...her son...her nanny....

 

Speaking of Lucy, it was Carisi who escorted a very frantic Lucy into the building. And that’s...that’s when Rafael felt his heart rate jump. 

 

Stuck at precinct all day. Pick up William at daycare today. 

He has a playdate with Lewis today.

 

William Lewis.  _ William. Lewis.  _ The man may be dead in his grave but using his name as a code had to be a bad omen. Obviously, she’s not safe and the detectives were going into panic mode, already declaring 10-13 to the bullpen as everyone jumped into action. But he wasn’t a cop. Just a lawyer. There was nothing he could do to help them. This was where he’s supposed to step aside and let the police do their jobs.

 

(Rafael Barba, however, has never been one to listen to procedure. Instead, he did the thing Dodds told him not to do: call Liv. Over and Over and Over again. He wondered if Liv knows its him calling. He prayed she was still alive.)

 

The team left for the brownstone, leaving him alone at the precinct. His first instinct was to sit and wait in her office. The silence was suffocated. This time when he called her, he got the busy signal. He hoped it was because she was on the phone with Dodds, and the perps weren’t just using her phone for shits and giggles. 

 

When he got a call from Carisi, letting him know that they had one of the guys, to feel free and come down and talk to the guy, who was he to refuse? Besides, it gave him a chance to wait outside the brownstone and know first hand about the status of Liv. He knew she wasn’t dead because Carisi would have at least given him  _ that _ courtesy. 

 

He arrived to the scene and his heart was in his throat. When he was face to face with the third offender, he wanted to punch the guy in the jaw. That’s how they settled things growing up. This was 2015, however, and he couldn’t do that. Especially not as a man of his stature and esteem. The man wasn’t all that helpful, only offering the perp’s full name: Joe Utley. But he served the purpose of getting Barba onto the site. He couldn’t be too mad. 

 

That is, until IAB Tucker came onto the scene. When they heard that Olivia had chosen Tucker as the NYPD representative to act as her negotiator, the scene became tense. With the exception of Dodds, this is a man who’s been after everybody’s badges. Tucker was, however, allowing everybody to take a moment to calm down. Out of all of them, Barba had to admit that Tucker was probably the most qualified out of all of them to do this job.  

 

Every time the phone rang, his bones rattled. He knew that he always jumped to the conclusion that Joe had done it. He killed the kids. He killed Liv. But it was always Tucker that would answer the phone and maintain the calm when Liv’s voice was heard in the truck. Barba stood at the back, away from the team, hanging on every word for an update. Clinging to every ounce of hope he could muster. 

 

Joe called once again, his demands lofty and a reminder of the high he was coming off of. Lofty enough that the room went silent.  _ What could a man want with both a helicopter  _ and _ a plane _ ? Silent enough that they all heard what Joe said next:

 

You lie again, and your pretty little girlfriend dies. 

 

He was stressed again. Barba wanted so desperately to be jealous. To storm over to Tucker and demand to know if he and Liv were somehow involved. He looked over at the IAB  officer, but he didn’t even blanch at Joe’s remark. Either the man was a master of deception, or he wasn’t involved with Liv at all. 

 

Barba selfishly hoped for the latter.  

 

It wasn’t long before Roxy surrendered. And then all was left was Joe. Barba’s mind wanted the force to call the shots and just kill Joe. That’s the easiest route. The best route. Especially if it saved Liv. He didn’t even want to think about what life would be if she was gone.  _ Fuck _ . The thought alone hurt too much. 

 

He couldn’t breathe when Liv finally stepped out from the brownstone with a gun pressed to the back of her head. Liv confided to him that she couldn’t stand the touch of a gun where it wasn’t in her hand. It must be torture.... Being forced to watch from 

  
  


He watched Liv as she’s lead way from the scene and to the nearby ambulance. Of course...he wants to run to her and he wants to make sure she’s okay. But she’s surrounded by her team again and they’re probably all making sure that she’s okay. Once again, he doesn’t belong. Instead of doing anything he  _ wanted _ , he pulls his jacket closer and steps out of the surveillance truck.

 

Looking behind his shoulder only once, he walked away from the scene without anybody looking twice at him. That’s what happens when you’re an outsider that’s inconsequential to the big picture. 

 

He texted Liv:

 

Glad you’re safe. Thank Tucker for me. 

Don’t know what I would have done without you. 

  
  


See, world? He could be a grown up and not hold grudges against the man he was frustrated with not thirty minutes ago. Even though he knew that he should be taking this moment to be truly happy that Liv was alive and the bastard was dead--he still hung on Joe’s association of Tucker as Liv’s boyfriend. What did this guy know that he didn’t? He couldn’t get hung up on the question, though. Instead, his phone beeped with an incoming message. 

 

Liv. 

 

You would have found a way to avenge my death in the courts. 

But I like it better this way. 

Thx.

 

He smiled and put his phone back in his pocket. See? There was nothing to worry about. 

 

Probably. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was....much longer than anticipated. Oops.


End file.
